Fatima Abashera

Staff Writer

Fatima Abashera

On Wednesday May 11, the world awakened to the devastating news of the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian- American journalist who had spend the last for 25 years working as a reporter forthe Aljazeera, a prominent Arabic news channel. 

Abu Akleh was a very familiar face for viewers of the news channel, including myself. She covered much of the updates on Israels’ attacks on Palestine and the constant war going on there. This news for me was the climax of escalating events in Palestine and across the Jerusalem Peninsula. I appreciated her because she took a huge risk to bring light to these global issues and she was not afraid with the knowledge of how risky it was. 

As someone who has kept up with the events on this news, I found it extremely concerning that the Western Media had little to no coverage on the killing of this famous journalist because this was not just an attack on her but also an attack on the news and information surrounding what is going on in Palestine. 

 Abu Akleh was a United States citizen, so the fact that Biden and other leaders in the US have not addressed it is very concerning. Although it is unclear whether or not the Israeli forces killed her and further investigation is being worked on, the US can do a lot more to protect journalists from any potential dangers that come as a price with reporting on ongoing dangerous situations.  among the many other journalists who risk their lives everyday in an attempt to shed light on the global issues that affect minority groups. Journalism is an extremely dangerous job especially for women in the field. 

 I believe that people internationally should make efforts to help and educate themselves as much as possible.  Personally, I believe that people already consume so much media on a daily basis so it doesn’t hurt to read about issues affecting other parts of the world. Nevertheless, Abu Akleh wasn’t just a person she was a journalist and this murder symbolizes a lot more. It symbolizes an attack on the news and information she helped bring to light. 

Fatima Abashera

Staff Writer

In the past two years, Everyone has been put in a stressful situation one way or another. However, what makes a student’s stress different? 

 The answer is school. School is a place many students experience the most amount of anxiety and stress in. Many social aspects of the school environment can lead to stress and anxiety. Whether it is sharing ideas in class or feeling the need to have friends or belong in a social sphere it is what causes student’s stress and anxiety.

 Many studies have  been conducted to assess the effects of stress and how it can further incite anxiety. More than 70% of students say that stress and anxiety is a “major problem” among their classmates. Personally, I believe that this statistic should be taken seriously and considered carefully. Mainly because school has caused me to have anxiety and higher stress levels than the average person. 

 I have had anxiety from around the time I was in middle school. This is a normal time for individuals to be very impressionable and worried about self image and meeting standards. However, for me it was a matter of feeling the need to do everything perfect and make no mistakes. Although I learned to be less anxious about being perfect, school is still the place that brings that need to be perfect out more than any other environment. 

 Anxiety is a disorder in which an individual feels strong emotions of worry and stress. These emotions are strong enough to interfere with daily life and activities. Anxiety can also be the feeling everyone gets when presenting a project or being forced to interact within a group of people. Anxiety is a medical diagnosis and there is no “cure” for it. In other words, there are ways to cut back on stressful situations and calm your mind however there is no definitive cure.  Because of this inability to cure a diagnosis like anxiety, places like school can push these anxiety-like symptoms to a high. 

 Personally, as someone who has experienced induced anxiety as a result of school it is easier for me to recognize situations in which I will be more susceptible to nerves and uneasiness. For instance, something that gives me increased anxiety at school is talking in oral presentations. For some reason, even if I know what to say I get really nervous and second guess my words or contribution. For these reasons, I try my best to avoid putting myself in situations where I will be required to share orally. However, this is a setback because in a professional work environment it is a quality to be able to speak in front of others. 

So how do you  manage stress levels by  challenging yourself and being at a place where you are allowing yourself to grow?

 Something that works for me is changing the narrative by using “if so”. For instance, if I am in a situation where I am about to present for class and I am really anxious I will say “if so I will grow from it and learn what I need to improve upon for next time”.

 These “if so” statements are directly talking about if something were to go wrong. Little things like these statements can help students figure out why they are anxious and turn things around to look at the bright side of what could be negative instances. Even more so, it is important to take breaks before getting to the point of burn out and keep your mind healthy. Taking breaks can help students clear their mind and find clarity in places where having reduced anxiety can feel impossible.

Fatima Abashera

Staff Writer

As soon as a class at  SLA is over, the two major stairwells at SLA are flooded with students rushing to various floors and classrooms. This is normal for high schools however not for many high schools post COVID 19 lockdown.
After the major COVID 19 lockdown, an eventual return to school was inevitable however it had to be considered how it could be made safe for everyone. That is when the SLA administration rolled out the idea of having stairwells for two designated directions. The up stairwell was for students moving up floors, down for those moving down floors. This felt like the perfect plan to limit mobs and crowds and practicing safe social distancing. Until, students began not following protocol and using the wrong stairwells. As one can imagine, this created 5 minutes of absolute chaos at SLA everyday. There would be 30+ students at a time in the stairwell commuting in opposite directions which slowed down the commute for many and frustrated students moving through the right stairwells. Not to mention, this was not even about a smoother transition in between bands but more importantly about practicing social distancing appropriately in school. Not abiding by the SLA administration’s stairwell plan only created a COVID superspreader event in the stairwells everyday. 

 Clearly, the administration’s plan to practice social distancing and ensure a smoother commute went south really quickly because of student’s irresponsibility.

 Personally, the most frustrating aspect of commuting to different floors for me is seeing students trying to squeeze down the up- stairwell or up the down- stairwell. All it does is create chaos and rush when travelling through SLA. 

 This issue raises the question of why students are not abiding by stairwell protocol. This question is one on everyone’s mind that experiences this event at SLA almost everyday. If anything it is in students best interest to follow protocol as it is saving the school from another looming transition to Zoom school. 

Social distancing is a mechanism designed to keep individuals a specific measurement of space away from each other to slow the spread of infectious disease. Diseases like COVID 19 spread through airborne particles so it is easy for these particles to spread at a rapid rate when people are clumped together or gather in large groups. However, when individuals are a safe distance away from one another it creates less room for these particles to spread through the air.  

 Well… we talked about the stairwell, what’s next? It is important for all students to pull their weight when practicing the protocol for social distancing. Even more so ,  if a good percentage of students practice using the right stairwell, maybe there will be a visible change in stairwell traffic and even COVID cases.